The Vineyard at Stockcross

Best Spirits List Europe-2017

There is no wine list outside the USA—and very few within it—that can match the collection of fine California wines assembled by The Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire. Starting with a complete selection of The Vineyard at Stockcross owner Sir Peter Michael’s eponymous Sonoma winery, and ranging across the state’s AVAs, it is a roll call of California’s best producers, including many old and rare bottles, and a number of wines that are almost impossible to buy if you’re not on an oversubscribed mailing list.

For its California collection alone, The Vineyard would be worthy of its place on the shortlist for Europe’s Best Wine List—and the judges singled it out for a Jury Prize for that very reason. But what’s equally impressive here is the way that specialism is joined by clever buying all over the world, placing the California wines in a global context of fine bottles.

And this is a genuinely global list, as strong in the more unusual French regions as it is in Bordeaux and Burgundy; amassing German Pinot Noir as well as Riesling; and finding space for England, Croatia, Lebanon, Slovenia, and Hungary as well as multiple imaginative listings from Italy, Spain, and Australia. Like a stay in The Vineyard’s luxury hotel, for a wine-lover it’s a treat not to be missed.